Ammunition loading device

ABSTRACT

A device is provided which is connected to an oleo cylinder of a weapon which cylinder is used to return the recoil mass of the weapon to the firing position. The device is pressurized by gas pressure in the oleo cylinder upon return of the recoil mass of the weapon to its firing position. A jack is pressurized by the oleo cylinder and a releasable abutment holds the piston of the jack in cocked position. The jack is coupled to a piston of a ram with chambers of unequal sections and the ram is pressurized by the jack to apply net force on the ramp piston. When the abutment is released, the ram piston is displaced by the net pressure and carries with it ammunition which is loaded into the weapon. The abutment then returns to its original position and returns the jack piston to cocked position and the ram piston to its original supply position.

United States Patent 1,517,758 12/1924 Schneider Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Brochelt Assistant Examiner-Stephen C. Bentley Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz & N issen ABSTRACT: A device is provided which is connected to an oleo cylinder of a weapon which cylinder is used to return the recoil mass of the weapon to the firing position. The device is pressurized by gas pressure in the oleo cylinder upon return of the recoil mass of the weapon to its firing position. A jack is pressurized by the oleo cylinder and a releasable abutment holds the piston of the jack in cocked position. The jack is coupled to a piston of a ram with chambers of unequal sections and the ram is pressurized by the jack to apply net force on the ramp piston. When the abutment is released, the ram piston is displaced by the net pressure and carries with it ammunition which is loaded into the weapon. The abutment then returns to its original position and returns the jack piston to cocked position and the ram piston to its original supply positron.

AMMUNITION LOADING DEVICE BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE'INVENTION The presentinvention relates to adevice for loading artillery weapons and the like with ammunition. More particularly, the invention relates to such adevice which is automatically armed during ,each firing operation.

The device is operable with artillery weapons which have oleo-pneumatic cylinders for absorbing forces of the recoil mass to return the mass to its firing position. The device according to the invention is coupled to the oleo-pneumatic cylinder of a weapon'and is energized thereby when the recoil mass returns to its firing position to automatically arm the device for controlled feed of ammunition from a-supply position to a load position.

According to theinvention, the device is subjected to gas pressure in the oleo-pneumatic cylinder upon return of the recoil mass to its firingposition after each firing of a shell, and the device is consequently armed to enable a fresh shell to be loaded into the weapon.

In accordance with the invention, the device comprises a first cylinder with a freely displaceable piston therein defining separated first and second chambers, the first chamber being connected to the oleo cylinder for being pressurized thereby, a jack including a second cylinder with a piston therein defining first and second chambers one of which is connected to said second chamber of the first cylinder, and a ram for loading ammunition comprising athird cylinder with a piston therein defining first and-second chambers, the first chamber of the third cylinder being connected with the first chamber of thee. second cylinder, the second chamber of the third cylinder. being connected with the second chamber of the second cylinder, said first and second chambers in the third cylinder being of unequal section to produce anet force on the piston in said third cylinder to produce-a stroke thereof when the first; chamber of the first cylinder is pressurized, and means connectcd to said piston in the third cylinder for displacing ammunition from a supply position to a load position during said stroke;

In further accordancewith the invention, an abutment means is provided for engaging said .piston of the jack to move the same and thereby the piston in the third cylinder to the supply position while'blocking movement of the piston in the: jack upon pressurization of the first chamber of the first cylinder. The unequal sections in the chambers of the ramare obtained by rods .of unequal diameters connected to the piston and extending into respective chambers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The sole FIGURE of the drawing is-adiagrammatic sec-. tional view of the device according to the invention in armed position.- i

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawing therein is shown a ram'"l for displacing a shell or other piece of ammunition from an armed or supplyposition, as shown, to a load position in the weapon. The ram is constituted as a hydraulic cylinder containing a piston 2 which defines. first and second chambers S andS in the cylinder. Two rods r and r are'connected to the piston 2 and extend into chambersS and S, respectively, rod r being of smaller diameter than rod R, whereby chamber S is of larger section than chamber S for a reason to be explained later. The rod r is connected .to an arm A for displacing the shell; Rods rv and r, are guidably mounted in bushings 3 and 4.

A cocking jack] serves to actuate the ram 1 and jack .l comprises a cylinder 5 containing a piston 6 defining separate chambers 8 Rods r; of equal diameter are connected to piston 6'whereby the chambers 5;, are of equal section. The rods r; are guidably mounted in bushings 7, 8.

Ig,-A"cylinder 9 is connected by conduit 12 to an oleo-pneumatic cylinder C which cushions the recoil of the weapon and returns the recoil mass to its firing position. Cylinder C is of conventional construction and is not shown in detail. The cylinder 9 is pressurized by cylinder C when the recoil mass returns to its firing position. The cylinder C serves as a power source to actuate the ram 1 as will be explained later.

The cylinder 9 contains a freely slidable piston which separates the cylinder'9 into chambers S and 5,. Chamber 8,, contains a gas from the oleo cylinder and chamber 5, contains a liquid. Piston 10 thus serves as a gas-liquid separator. The

5 displays the armed condition. Upon release of abutment cylinder 9 contains an indicator 11 for displaying the pressure state in the cylinder 9 and thereby whether the system is armed or not.

Chamber 8., of cylinder 9 is connected to a chamber 8;, of the jack .1 via passageways and conduits, and the chambers S of the jack are in turn connected to the chambers S, and S of the ram by conduits and passageways. The conduits, passageways, and chambers are filled with liquid.

A safety valve 13 is inserted in a conduit between a chamber S of jack J and chamber S of ram 1 to relieve the pressure if it should exceed a preestablished maximum.

Liquid refill valves '14 and 15 are interposed in the conduits connecting chambers S and chambers S and S for adding rod r;, of the jack for blocking movement thereof to the left in the drawing after pressurization of cylinder 9 after firing of the weapon and return of the recoiling mass to its firing position; The abutment means 16 is fixed on the breech liner of the weapon and is manually releasable from the position blocking piston 8. v

The operation of the device is as follows:

After a shell is fired and the recoil mass of the weapon has returned to its firing position, the gas pressure in oleo C is applied to chamber 8,, via conduit 12 'to pressurize the'liquid in chamber 8., and thence in chambers S S A net force is applied to piston 2 tending to move it to the right in the drawing due to the difference in section of chambers S, and S however, the piston remains stationary since the abutment means 16 holds the jack J iri armed position as shown in the drawing by blocking movement to the left of piston 8. The indicator 1 1 means 16, the net force applied to piston 2 urges the piston to the right and the arm A transports the shell to the load posi-' tion in the weapon imparting to the shell sufficient velocity for its loading in the weapon. At the end of the stroke of the ram piston 2, the ram is hydraulically braked.

The abutment means 16 then returns to its original position by spring action and displaces the piston 8 of jack J to the right and thereby the piston 2 of the ram to the left to assume the position shown in the drawing for the arming .of the next firing of the weapon; I

The jack J is so constructed that the stroke of the piston 6 is slightly less than the shortest length of recoil.

The device of the'pr es'ent invention is applicable to any ar-' tillery piece with an oleo cylinder for return of the recoil mass I to firing position. The device is adaptable for loading cartridge shells, half-case missiles, or for the loading of shells with a charge made up by heavy artillery cartridges or shell cases.

Sectional area of fluid-filled section S2 =l.95 cm.

The characteristic feature of the invention is that the power source is the gas pressure in oleo C and the device is armed automatically every time the gun fires when the recoil mass returns to its firing position.

Manual operation of the abutment means 16 initiates the operation of the ram 1 and consequently the loading of the ammunition.

The device of the invention is effective with any artillery piece with an oleo cylinder for return of the recoil mass to firing position, and particularly for the loading of heavy caliber field piece shells, whose loading is at present done by hand. The device eases the task of the gun crews and allows increase in the firing rate.

What is claimed is:

1. For a weapon having an oleo-pneumatic cylinder, a device operable by the oleo-pneumatic cylinder for loading the weapon with ammunition, said device comprising a first cylinder with a freely displaceable piston therein defining separated first and second chambers, the first chamber being connected to the oleo cylinder for being pressurized thereby, a jack including a second cylinder with a piston therein defining first and second chambers one of which is connected to said second chamber of the first cylinder, and a ram for loading ammunition comprising a third cylinder with a piston therein defining first and second chambers, the first chamber of the third cylinder being connected with the first chamber of the second cylinder, the second chamber of the third cylinder being connected with the second chamber of the second cylinder, said first and second chambers in the third cylinder being of unequal section to produce a net force on the piston in said third cylinder to produce a stroke thereof when the first chamber of the first cylinder is pressurized, and means connected to said piston in the third cylinder for displacing ammunition from a supply position to a load position during said stroke.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising releasable and displaceable abutment means for engaging said piston of the jack to move the same and thereby the piston in third cylinder to the supply position while blocking movement of the piston in the jack upon pressurization of the first chamber of the first cylinder.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said abutment means is hand operably releasable from said piston of the jack to permit the piston of the ram to undergo displacement from the supply position to the load position under the net force applied to the piston of the ram.

4. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said ram includes rods connected to said piston thereof and extending into respective chambers, said rods having unequal diameters to provide the unequal sections of the first and second chambers of the ram.

5. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said device includes conduit means connecting the chambers of the ram and jack, including a safety valve between the first chamber of the jack and the chamber of larger section of the ram.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said conduit means further connects the second chamber of the first cylinder to said one chamber of the jack and the conduit means, the second chamber of the first cylinder and the chambers of the jack and ram are filled with a fluid.

7. A device as claimed in claim 5 comprising refill valves in the conduit means between the chambers of the jack and ram.

8. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said abutment means is adapted for being fixed on the breech liner of the weapon.

9. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said device is adaptable with weapons having different recoil strokes and said piston of said jack has a stroke which is slightly less than the shortest length of recoil stroke.

10. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first cylinder is pressurized by gases of the oleo-pneumatic cylinder, said second chamber of the first cylinder and said chambers of the jack and ram being filled with a liquid. 

1. For a weapon having an oleo-pneumatic cylinder, a device operable by the oleo-pneumatic cylinder for loading the weapon with ammunition, said device comprising a first cylinder with a freely displaceable piston therein defining separated first and second chambers, the first chamber being connected to the oleo cylinder for being pressurized thereby, a jack including a second cylinder with a piston therein defining first and second chambers one of which is connected to said second chamber of the first cylinder, and a ram for loading ammunition comprising a third cylinder with a piston therein defining first and second chambers, the first chamber of the third cylinder being connected with the first chamber of the second cylinder, the second chamber of the third cylinder being connected with the second chamber of the second cylinder, said first and second chambers in the third cylinder being of unequal section to produce a net force on the piston in said third cylinder to produce a stroke thereof when the first chamber of the first cylinder is pressurized, and means connected to said piston in the third cylinder for displacing ammunition from a supply position to a load position during said stroke.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 comprising releasable and displaceable abutment means for engaging said piston of the jack to move the same and thereby the piston in third cylinder to the supply position while blocking movement of the piston in the jack upon pressurization of the first chamber of the first cylinder.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said abutment means is hand operably releasable from said piston of the jack to permit the piston of the ram to undergo diSplacement from the supply position to the load position under the net force applied to the piston of the ram.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said ram includes rods connected to said piston thereof and extending into respective chambers, said rods having unequal diameters to provide the unequal sections of the first and second chambers of the ram.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said device includes conduit means connecting the chambers of the ram and jack, including a safety valve between the first chamber of the jack and the chamber of larger section of the ram.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said conduit means further connects the second chamber of the first cylinder to said one chamber of the jack and the conduit means, the second chamber of the first cylinder and the chambers of the jack and ram are filled with a fluid.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 5 comprising refill valves in the conduit means between the chambers of the jack and ram.
 8. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said abutment means is adapted for being fixed on the breech liner of the weapon.
 9. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said device is adaptable with weapons having different recoil strokes and said piston of said jack has a stroke which is slightly less than the shortest length of recoil stroke.
 10. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first cylinder is pressurized by gases of the oleo-pneumatic cylinder, said second chamber of the first cylinder and said chambers of the jack and ram being filled with a liquid. 